The last April 7th, after several negotiations with Mexico and Colombia, the government announced a car agreement to sell more cars in that region in order to not depend of sales of Argentine vehicles to Brazil.
The agreement establishes quotas for the export and import of vehicles with zero tariff, this plan is of a progressive type. The first year, they will start with 9,000 units and it is thought that 42,000 vehicles will have exported by 2021 to Colombia, accordingthe words of the secretary of Industry, Martin Etchegoyen. Today Argentina exports to Colombia around 7,000 vehicles in total,which there is a potential of exports of 6 times more.
The agreement was signed by Chancellor Susana Malcorra, the Minister of Production, Francisco Cabrera, together with the Minister of Industry of Colombia, Claudia LacouturePinedo. In a press conference inthe Palacio San Martin, Cabrera specified that with these 42,000 units open a market of USD 700 million per export, with a projected increase in production of 9,000 new vehicles in the first year.
The two countries established a framework to re-negotiate since 2021, but until that year ifthe zero-tariff export quota is exceeded, it would not be passed directly to 35%, due tothere is a prior agreement of preference between 15% and 16% depending of the case.
Although sales of zero kilometer cars in Argentina are growing and became one of the sectors with the greatest prospects, the imported car showed a growth in participation. Etchegoyenensured: «The increase of imported imports worries us, but the fall in exports worries us more, and thats what this agreement is for.»
Car production in the country ended the first quarter of the year with a fall of 7.5% year-on-year. However, in March there were 40,107, 66.9% above last Februarys performance and 13.2% less compared withthe same month last year, according to the last Adefa report.
